We Need To Have a Conversation About Macklin Celebrini..

We Need To Have a Conversation About Macklin Celebrini..

This is 19-year-old Mlin Celabbrini, the San Jose Sharks star centerman, the face of the Sharks rebuild and potentially the new face of the NHL. Shoots and scores celebrating a game winner. Because in just his second season, he’s already getting heart and Art Ross trophy buzz. The Sharks might still be a mess on paper, but amid all the losing, teenage ML CBrini has shined, ranking near the top of the league in scoring. But before he became the league’s newest superstar, scouts weren’t convinced he would be. Not to say that he wasn’t good. He was, but they just saw him as a reliable top pick, not a generational one. And the timing didn’t help him either. Just a year earlier, Conor Bard had gone first overall with all the hype in the world. He was being called the best prospect since McDavid, a kid who’d saved the Blackhawks and revived an entire franchise overnight. His highlights flooded social media. Every goal went viral, and he had NHL teams tanking just to get a chance at him. So, when Celebrin’s draft rolled around, the buzz felt a little quieter compared to the year prior. He didn’t have the flare, the viral moments, or the endless comparisons to McDavid. But that’s not to say that he wasn’t great. At just 17 years old, Celibbrini dominated college hockey. In 38 games, he put up 64 points and 32 goals, finishing second in the entire NCAA in those categories. And he was first in points per game with 1.69. He was the youngest player in college hockey that year, but you wouldn’t have known it watching him. By the end of the season, he’d made history, becoming only the fourth player ever to win the Hockey East player of the year and the Rookie of the Year in the same season. He also became just the fourth freshman since 2000 to hit 30 goals and 30 assists. And he took home a mountain of awards. And when the Sharks came to the podium with the first pick in the 2024 NHL draft, there was no doubt that they’d go with Mack. And while Cberrini was starting his journey into becoming an NHL centerman, you can do the same. Today’s video is sponsored by my friends over at the Victory Hockey League. The Victory Hockey League entering their 102nd season is the place for hockey fans looking to experience the thrill of a pro hockey career. Create your player in the minor leagues. Develop your skills and make decisions about your career and play style before you head to the pros. You can earn development points weekly by answering press conference questions, writing articles about your team or player, hosting your own podcast, or anything your creativity inspires. Upgrade attributes for your player, and lead your team to the playoffs. The DC Dragons are heading into the offseason celebrating as the VHL Continental Cup champions. And in the minor league, the Halifax 21st are commemorating their back-to-back Founders Cups. So whether you like hockey simulations or prefer to just kick it back with fellow hockey fans, vhlforum.com is the place to join with thousands of members. Join today by clicking the link down below and join the Discord to get 247 assistance from our community and staff. A big thank you to the Victory Hockey League for supporting the channel. Now, let’s get back to Mlin. Celebrin’s rookie season couldn’t have started in a more storybook way. Just seven minutes into his NHL debut, he scored his first goal. A bit of a lucky bounce, but as the saying goes, you have to be good to be lucky. He spun around and threw it to the slot and had it bounce off a defender and go in. Later that night, he picked up an assist to finish his first NHL game with two points, instantly making his mark on a San Jose Sharks team, desperate for a spark. The debut felt like a statement that this kid belonged in the league. Unfortunately, his season didn’t take off right away. A lower body injury that had nagged him since the preseason flared up again, forcing him to miss the rest of October and halting that early momentum that he had. When he returned, things didn’t come easy. He only managed five points over the course of the next 10 games as the Sharks recorded just three wins. For a player of his caliber, that felt pretty underwhelming. But rather than getting frustrated, Celibbrini used that stretch to adjust to the pace of the league to figure out where he could make an impact beyond the score sheet. And that patience paid off. From pretty much December onward, he looked like a completely different player. Confident, dynamic, and in full control of the game. Over his final 61 games, he racked up 58 points, nearly producing at a point per game rate. By season’s end, he had totaled 63 points and finished third in Calder Trophy voting, a statline that cemented his status as one of the league’s brightest young stars. And all that momentum carried into the offseason where the league’s players made it clear what they think of him. Before the 2025 2026 season, the NHL surveyed players on who they think becomes the league’s next face. 61.5% said Mlin Celbrini. This was followed by Gavin McKenna at 10%, Conor Bedard at 7%, Matt Schaefer at 5%, and then the rest barely registered. But a pretty simple takeaway from this poll, the players themselves already view Celrini as the guy. And now in year two, he’s pretty much proven that. He completely dodged the sophomore slump that hit guys like Bedard. And the jump is obvious both on tape and in the numbers. NHL edge tracking has him in the 95th percentile among forwards in 20 plus mileph speed bursts, showing how much more aggressive and confident he is at attacking defenders. And that speed has translated into real production. He’s third in the entire league in points, trailing only McDavid and McKinnon. And he’s currently on pace for over 110 points. Maybe not a completely sustainable pace over 82 games, but around 30 games in, it’s pretty convincing. He’s already stacked up multiple statement games, including a three-goal five-point night versus the Rangers on October 23rd, plus another hat-tick against Utah. Add in stronger puck protection, better finishing, and sharper defensive reads, and he’s gone from a promising kid to a legitimate driver of results night in and night out. He recently just hit the 100 game mark in his career, and Celebr’s profile looked a lot closer to established superstars teenage seasons than the average high pick. His scoring pace through his first 100 games sits at 106 points, a level that only a handful of active players reached as teams. Names like Crosby, Ovetchkin, Malcin, Capriov, and McDavid. And what makes that number even more striking is the environment that he’s doing it in. San Jose is near the bottom of the league in expected goals and overall shot share. Yet, Celbrrini continues to drive their offense. At 19 years old, Celibbrini is already showing up in spots you normally only see veteran stars occupy. He’s battling for the league lead in points, driving an 82 game pace of 40 goals and 74 assists, and he’s doing it on a roster that isn’t too pretty to look at. His advanced numbers even back that up. Evolving hockey has him in the 96th percentile offensively with elite even strength creation. Jes’s model paints the same picture. 96 percentile finishing, 92nd percentile primary assists, and 90th percentile goal scoring. He looks like a top five center by production and underlying value. And what makes it even more wild is the context. He’s doing this while the Sharks sit around 500, relying on him to keep them competitive every night. And if the Sharks didn’t have Celerrini, this probably goes without saying, they wouldn’t be anywhere near 500. No stat captures San Jose’s reality more clearly than this. The Sharks are 06 and2 when Cabbrrini does not record a point. When he’s quiet, their offense collapses. When he’s involved, they look like a fringe playoff team at worst. 137-1. That kind of swing is not normal, even for elite players. And it shows just how much weight he’s carrying at 19 years old. Even Sydney Crosy has pointed out how quickly Celibbrini has become one of the best in the league. But even players like that need support. If the Sharks want to take their rebuild to the next step, they’re going to have to start surrounding him with actual depth. Right now, the entire structure leans on him and results swing wildly depending on whether he touches the score sheet or not. And now production is one thing, but that level of team impact and that team reliability is what really starts to build a heart trophy case. And as his MVP case builds, the next question becomes unavoidable. What does this mean for team Canada? Celebr’s push for a top spot on team Canada has gone from a longshot ideal last summer to a legitimate conversation as the roster deadline approaches. Normally Canada doesn’t bring 19-year-olds to the Olympics, but his season is forcing their hand. He’s third in the league in scoring and playing a style that fits international hockey perfectly. Team Canada’s GM Doug Armstrong has already said that he’s very impressed and the coaching staff has been monitoring him closely after seeing him at the 2025 World Championship where his chemistry with Crosby stood out. Those two read off each other naturally and analysts have already floated the idea that if Celbrini makes the Olympic team, a Crosby CBrini pairing would just make sense. If he keeps up this pace, it’s hard to imagine Canada leaving him off the roster. It gets to a point where the production and the fit, it just speaks for itself. The ceiling for Mlin Celibbrini is not a mystery anymore. Celery projects as a true elite number one centerman, the kind of player you build an entire organization around. If his development keeps tracking the way it has, he’s on a path toward becoming a top five player in the world with a long runway of Art Ross and heart conversations ahead of him. The real question now shifts to the San Jose Sharks. How quickly can they build their right structure around him? The core pieces are starting to show up. Smith taking a step, young defenseman coming up, Ascrov looks great, and a clear identity is forming, but they’ll need more depth, more speed, and definitely more stability. If they want to maximize what they have, they need to do the right things. The Sharks finally have a player who can change the direction of the franchise. And what happens next depends on how aggressively they choose to build around him.

At 19, Macklin Celebrini is already near the top of NHL scoring and drawing Hart and Art Ross buzz on a rebuilding Sharks team and we need to have a conversation about him…

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